Kit Chapman MBE, founder and Director of Arts Taunton since its inception in 2014, retired from the Board earlier this year.
Kit is a force to be reckoned with and when he decided that the town needed to build up its cultural offering, he set about creating Arts Taunton. Arts Taunton had strong foundations coming from the roots of Taunton Cultural Consortium.
Kit has tirelessly fought the corner for arts and cultural development in Taunton and set ambitious goals for Arts Taunton, to:
Kit is a force to be reckoned with and when he decided that the town needed to build up its cultural offering, he set about creating Arts Taunton. Arts Taunton had strong foundations coming from the roots of Taunton Cultural Consortium.
Kit has tirelessly fought the corner for arts and cultural development in Taunton and set ambitious goals for Arts Taunton, to:
Inspire
Inspire our local community to support the arts and get involved; inspire young people to discover their creativity; inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the arts.
INFLUENCE
Influence local leaders and businesses to invest in the arts; influence the local debate about the importance of arts, culture and the local environment; influence architects, artists, planners and developers to make Taunton a more beautiful place to live and work.
INCLUDE
Make clear that the arts are for everyone; engage those who have less access to the arts or opportunity to participate.
Over the years we have worked with these three concepts in mind to bring funding into the area from philanthropists and businesses with Kit heading up this demanding undertaking.
His vision and drive will be much missed by the Board but he will remain actively involved as Patron. He is currently working to bring Dame Judi Dench and Lord Julian Fellowes to Taunton for a one off event to help raise the profile of our town and theatre and to raise funds to further our work.
The Board would like to thank Kit for his immense contribution over the last 8 years and look forward to working with him as a very active Patron.